My name is Sharon Garofalow. Based in So Cal, I am the mom to two amazing little boys and married to the raddest man in all the land. This is where I share a collection of cool, created by me or curated from around the web. I focus on untraditional party themes, unfussy fashion and creative activities for your modern family.cupcakesandcutlery@gmail.com

Nothing says fall like cozying up on the couch on a fall afternoon and sipping something warm. I created this Hot Coconut Pumpkin drink for when you want something a little different from the usual hot chocolate. I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin. I know, what!? But when it’s mixed with holiday spices and lightened up with a little coconut milk, I really enjoy it. You can find the full recipe over on Kroger’s Inspired Gathering site. It’s a great resource for crafts, tips and mostly recipes for all the holidays and beyond!

Hot Spiced Coconut DrinkWhat does a girl who doesn’t like pumpkin do? Make pumpkin cupcakes! These are like super moist pumpkin bread style cupcakes topped with yummy vanilla frosting. Then I used some white chocolate covered cereal to create a delicious cupcake topper. You can call these “pumpkin seeds” or “spider eggs,” however creepy you want to get because this recipe is perfect for your Halloween party. This recipe is also on the Inspired Gathering site. Check it out!

Do you already have the best Moscow Mule recipe and now you want something a little more holiday friendly? You have to try this Pumpkin Mule recipe. It’s super easy to make with just a little spiced pumpkin rum. It doesn’t get more fall than that!If you have followed this blog for the last few years then you already know that I’m a big fan of the Moscow Mule. It’s one of those cocktails that uses the same basic flavors and, with just minor changes, you can create something totally new. Now that it’s fall, I decided to try out a Pumpkin Mule to see if it is something I might want to serve at Halloween and Thanksgiving.The Pumpkin Mule recipe starts like all the best Moscow Mules, with fresh lime and ginger beer. The pumpkin spiced rum is what makes it fall-ified. The thought of pumpkin flavored cocktails immediately makes me think of thick, pumpkin puree. Which is totally not something I want in a cocktail. But this rum, with its warm spices, is easy to drink and gives it the perfect fall inspired flavor. Start with ice in your glasses. This recipe doesn’t require a shaker and it’s super easy to make several drinks at once. Pour in your ginger beer. Squeeze in your fresh lime. Then use a jigger to top with the Jack-O Blast. What a name. Give it a quick stir with your favorite bar spoon and your cocktail is done.Garnish with lime. And drink up. The Pumpkin Mule is really the best cocktail idea for fall. It would go perfectly with any Thanksgiving menu. And if you need a little something to get your through trick or treating, this might be your jam.Plus, how cute is the bottle? This sweet Caribbean rum with spices and pumpkin flavor works perfectly in this Mule recipe and can also be used for shots. If you’re in to that kind of thing. Hangovers and parenting really is the worst.

You guys. If you read my post about our family camping adventure, inspired by the movie, THE WILD LIFE, you’ll know that our family got to eat crickets. I can’t say that I am an adventurous eater. My youngest son, however, is. He didn’t hesitate when the zoologist offered him one. My oldest son wanted to be as far from the edible bugs as possible. So what is a good boy mom to do? Well, she clearly has to eat a cricket to try to encourage her scaredy cat son. And I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted like a sunflower seed! So I knew that I needed to make a dessert with them to see if THAT would help my other son give these crispy critters a try. With Halloween coming up, I figured this bark recipe with chocolate, crickets, dried cherries and roasted almonds would be a fun, creepy dessert to serve. But I’m going to be really honest here. Eating a cricket by a campfire, with low light, is much easier than eating them in your bright kitchen. Creepy. When we got home from camping, I jumped on Amazon and {affiliate link} ordered these roasted crickets. I’m a terrible estimator so I had no idea how big the bag would be or how many would be inside. There is nothing in this photo that can really give it scale but the package that arrived was roughly the size of a package of OREOs. So pretty big. Especially when filled with bugs.And then I opened the bag. I may have shrieked. The amount of bugs that were currently in my kitchen was a little overwhelming. For someone who tries her hardest to keep any and all bugs out of the house, this was a crazy thing for me to have purchased. Like I mentioned before, eating these at night was different. In the light of day, you can see all the legs and wings and heads and (pause for shudder)…but I powered through. I had a bark recipe to create! I grabbed some melting chocolate I had in the freezer. My kids like to create their own “candy bars” so I thought this would be right up their alley. I thought the roasted almonds would compliment the roasted crickets nicely and added the dried cherries for some sweetness. This really is a classic bark recipe with the melted chocolate spread out on a prepared pan and topped with a sprinkling of each topping. Including crickets. Man. What was I thinking?I put it in the fridge to set and then delighted my boys with it when they got home from school. Again, my youngest didn’t hesitate at all to not only try the bark but jump right in to the bag and eat a few of the crickets on their own. I could see in his eyes, that he wasn’t keen on seeing all the detail of the crickets either…My oldest, as you may have guessed, said “peace out” and left the kitchen as fast as he could.

It’s been enjoyable having a bag of roasted crickets in the house. We’ve challenged many of our guests to see if they will eat one and it’s always surprising who will and who won’t. So if you’re in the area and want to try one, let me know! I’m rich in crickets!

I always forget to take photos of my kids on Halloween. Total mom fail. Maybe it’s because I’m too busy figuring out how to take my bottle of wine to go (mom’s need treats too!). So this year, we did a little photo shoot, a few days prior to make sure we got some fun memories.

I’m not that in to Halloween but I do like to try to decorate a little for the kids. I don’t do horror instead I tend to go for cute Halloween decorations. These easy homemade Halloween candles are a little creepy, a little cute and a whole lot of simple. But really, there is nothing more horrifying than ants, amIright? To me ants are the devil so these oversized plastic bugs are the perfect creepy thing to turn store-bought candles in to some easy halloween home decor. DIY Halloween decorations mean you can control the creep factor in your home. And with these simple (super inexpensive!) DIY candles, you can make them as crawly as your little heart can take.

You guys! I’m so excited to announce that I am a new contributor over at Minted’s UH-MAZING blog, Julep! My first post is this fantastically creepy crawly DIY tablecloth for all your Halloween entertaining. What I love about it is that you can reuse it year after year, it was SUPER easy to make and it looks pretty dang cool. Pop on over to Julep for the full Halloween tablecloth tutorial!

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I use affiliate links throughout this blog. I will never talk about or promote anything that I don't love or doesn't fit what I think you guys would want or need. Affiliate sales and sponsored work supports Cupcakes and Cutlery and allows me to create new content for you.
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My name is Sharon Garofalow. Based in So Cal, I am the mom to two amazing little boys and married to the raddest man in all the land. This is where I share a collection of cool, created by me or curated from around the web. I focus on untraditional party themes, unfussy fashion and creative activities for your modern family.cupcakesandcutlery@gmail.com